Filling machine



2 Sheets-Sheet FILLING MACHINE Filed May D. M. HAUGER ET AL fill/13,1% 5/ Oct. 28, 1930.

ocr. 2s, 1930. `D M. HAUGER ET AL 1,779,879

FILLING MACHINE Filed May 13, 1927 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 28, 1930' DAVID 1111. HAUGEE, JESSE E. WEAVER,

WILLIAM G. WOLBEET, AND IQSEPIIEINNN,

or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, AsSIGNoEs '11o MCKENNA BRASS & MANUFAC- SYLVANIA FILLING MACHINE Application Elea May 13,

Our invention relates to a filling machine and moreparticularly to apparatus for controlling the gases entrapped in a receptacle during a filling operation. V

One object of our invention is to providey a lling machine in whichgases entrapped in a receptacle being filled are released without spattering the material being filled over adjacent objects.

Another object of our invention is to provide a head or filling'apparatus for filling machines that shall have provision for the compression of` al1-appreciable quantity of gas above the receptacle being filled. i

Another object of our invention is to provide a filling machine in which a quantity of the gas contained in a receptacle being filled is compressed in order to assist in the release of the receptacle from the filling machine.

A further object 'of our inventionis to provide a head or filling-apparatus for a filling machine that is provided with a recessed surface adjacent to a receptacle being filled for compressing a portion of the gases initially contained in the receptacle, thereby enabling more uniform filling ofsuccessive receptacles. Certain features of the present invention are improvements over the structure shown. and described in the patent to Haller,

1,425,960, issued August 15,1922, andi assigned to the McKenna Brass & Manufacturing Company. In the machine filling of' certain receptacles such as bottles, cans and the like, it is customary practice to provide a tube for the escape of gases entrapped in the receptacle being filled. Provision is also made for blowing out the escape tube between the successive filling operations. However, during the filling operation when air is escaping from the receptacle, a certain amount of the liquid is discharged from the escape pipe together with the escaping gases. We propose to eliminate such undesirable dis-l charges by providing a passageway in the escape pipe that permits air to be blown across an opening in one direction and prohibits thepassage of the mixed escaping gases and particles of matter in the opposite direction.

In filling machines, it is customary to provide a filling head that makes a hermetical 1927. serial No. 191,230.

seal with the top of a receptacle y"such ras a can or a bottle during :the filling operation. `We have found that when the lower surface of such a head is substantially flush with the top of the receptacle being filled, there is lfre-A quently va tendency `for the receptacleto a'd-4 here to the head by reason ofthe existence of a vacuum ybetween the headand the re? ceptacle at the'time at which it is desired to' discharge the receptacle.' By providing "al space in which aquantity of gas maybe compressed during the filling operation, we provide a positive pressure -for'assisting Ein the,v

release of the receptacle at the'desired' time.

Also when the face of the filling head is substantially flush with the top 'of the',v container small particles congeal on the lower facefof 'the fillinghead between successive filling operations'and be projected into and withdrawn fromsucces' thereby causing variation in' sive containers, y l the weight of contentsof the containers. By providing a recess adjacent to thefilling nozzle, we have provided a space theffaceof which normally does not come `in conta/ct' p Suchfaccumula-,f matter as may tbe' with the filling material. tions of vliquid and solid Y deposited, do not'project .downwardly rinto thecontainers but breako and `f:`all into the receptacles, the surface without affecting thefweight of thecontents ofthe containers being filled.

` Our invention is as cans-of` soup, saucefor baked beans and other canned foods, althoughv it is to be understood thatl the invention Vis applicableY `to particular applications Y 1s a sectional head shown in Fig. 1 in itsclosed position;

Figure 3 is a'view, partially in elevation of ysolid matter kmay thereby cleaning vthe jfaceV of' particularly adapted forf use 1n connection with the filling of containers with liquid 4or semi-liquid materialsulchv given 4as illustrations `of an illustrative embodiment of our in a filling ymachine is blown into the fao-operating tube l32 and 'I' ner more fully hereinafter described. The

'When air is blown downwardly through the and partially in section,.of the filling head when it is in its operative position; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a detail of the invention.

Our invention may comprise rin general a base 1 that supports a vertically extending shaft 2 on which is mounted a tank 3 containingl a supply of liquid 4 such as soup, baked bean sauce or `the like, that is being automatically fed into receptacles v5 such as tin cans, through a filling headv 6.

The shaft 2 is driven by a shaft 7 from any suitable source of power (not shown) through a beveled gear 8 that is rigidly attached to the shaft 2. A plate 9 is secu'red'to the basel andis provided with an irregular or cammed surface 11 over which a plurality of rollers 12 pass as the shaft 2 revolves.

The rollers 12 are journalledv in the lower ends of rods 13 that extend upwardly through and are guided by an apron 14 carrying the bevel gear .8, whereby the rods 13 are held in circumferential alinement about the shaft 2 but are permitted to have relative vertical movement as the rollers 12 pass over the different portions of the track 11. The rods 13 terminate in plates 15 constituting receptacle supports for maintaining the receptacles 5 directly beneath the respective filling head 6.y

A compressor 21 is driven by the shaft 7 through a gear train'22 and is connectedby a plpe 23 to a flexible tube'24fthat, inrturn, is connected toa head 25 that is biased against overhanging surface 26 of the tank 3 by a weight 27, a pulley 28 and a cord 29.I

The overhanging edge 26 is provided with a plurality vof perfor`ations31that are con-V- byy flexible tubes 32Y with the filling heads 6. The number of the perforations 31- nected corresponds with the number of filling heads 6 provided on the machine.

As the tank 3 is rotated, the head 25 is successively brought into engagement with the, openings 31 in Vtimed relation to the initialj stage of the operation of filling the recep tacles 5. As the head 25 comes into aline-VV ment with each of the openings31 a j et of air downwardly into the filling head 6 in a mandetails of construction and operation of the head 26 constitute one of the features kof the Haller patent 1,425,960 heretofore referredv to .The tubes 32 are connected to one side ofi a `coupling unit 33 shown inldetail inl-lig.

4. 'The unit 33 may be of YC shapeandvhave alined passages 34 and 35 in its upper kand,

lower arms whereby an opening is formed.

tube 32, its kinetic energy is such as to` cause it to traverse the space between the openings 34 and 35 and continue downwardly in the'V Vopening 35. vHowever,particles of liquid level of the liquid 4. The bottom* of t-he'tank 3 is provided with aplurality of openings 37 under which are bolted platesv 38'that`convstitute portions of the filling heads 6. Casings 39 have, threaded connections with the plates 38 andexteid upwardly into the tank 3 where they are provided with. openings 41 through which the fluid canpass under thev influence of the force of gravity or pressure in the tank 3, as desired. Each casing 39 eX- tends downwardly and through the bottom of the tank 3 and has a liquid-tight sliding engagement along its inner face with a sleeve 42 that is normally biased in a downward di rect-ion by a coil spring 43 that'extends between a seat 44 on the casing 39 and a seat 45 on a collar 46 disposed at an intermediate point on the sleeve 42. By reason of Vthis connection the sleeve 42 has longitudinal movement relative to the casing 39. A

The collar 46 is providedwith outwardly projecting threads 47 for engagement with inwardly projecting threads 48 formed on cup-shaped member 49 that terminates in adownwardly extending1 flange 51 for securing a resilient Vpacking body 52, such as rubber. The packing 52 is adapted for engaging 4the upper edges of the receptacle By reason of the threaded engagement between t-he collar 46 and the cup-shaped mem* ber 49, itis possible to adjustthe position of thepacking 52 with respect to the mouth 53 of the sleeve 42. A clamp 54 is provided for preventing undesired turning movement be,-l tween these members when oncev adjusted. A

body of packing 5v5 is. placed between the.

solid'matter 58 may adhere from time `to time without extending downwardly into and varying the contents of the receptacles 5. The

vaccumulations yof solid mat-ter 58 break olf from the plate 57 from time to time by reason of theirfown weight and, accordingly,r'

the plate 57 is;self cleaning. y

A tube 61 mounted within each casing 39. has a threaded connection with the co-operat-f ing tube 36 to constitute a continuation thereof, and extendsdownwardly through the sleeve 42. Since each tube 61 is attached to one of the casings 39 each sleeve 42 is longitudinally movable relatively thereto.

Each tube 61 terminates in a. valve 62 thatv acter of the liquid passing through the filling head 6.l Where the ingredients o f the liquid 4 are such that husks must behandled, we have found it advisable to make the slots 65 very long and very narrow. The

distance that the sleeve 42 extends downwardly below theV lower face of the packing 52 determines the depth of the contents of the receptacle 5 as is more fully hereinafter described.

In the operation of the shaft 2 is turned at a and receptacles 5 are fed to and removed from the plates 15 by hand or by any suitable mechanism (not shown). The operation of the successive plates being the same, the

now refer to a given plate.

filling machine, the predetermined speed description will As an empty receptacle is placed on tne given plate 15 the associated roller 12 traverses the track 11 and the rod 13 is'raised upwardly, thereby bringing the receptacle 5 into engagement with the face of t-he packing 52 as is shown in Fig. v3. Atthe time of engagement of the receptacle 5 with the packing 52, the relation between the head 25 and the co-operating opening 31 is such that a jet of air passes from the compressor 21 through the pipe 23, the flexible tube 24, the head 25, the opening 36, the tube ,32, the coupling unit 33, the tube 36, the tube 61 and the slots 65 to blow out any particles of matter'that may have become lodged therein.

When the opening 31 has kpassed beyond the head 25, the foregoing connection -is broken and liquid Hows downwardly through the casing 39 and the sleeve 42 and simultaneously the air in the receptacle 5 moves upwardly through the tube 61 and 36 to the unit 33. Since the unit 33 is placed within the tank 3, any particles of liquid discharged from t-he opening 35 fall back into Vthe -liquid 4, thereby eliminating any tendency towards spattering the liquid over adjacent machinery and operators.

l/Vhen the level of the contents in the receptacle 5 reaches the lower end of the sleeve 42 and seals the same, further dischargeof gas is prevented and the entrapped gas is compressed, thereby building up a pressure preventing the discharge -o-fz further.. liquid through the sleeve- 42. i :This condition- .prevails until the support 15 has travelled'into such'a position that its rod'13 drops sufficiently to permit the removal of the receptacle 5 from the packing 52. As the receptacle-5 moves downwardly, the spring 43 expands and closes the valve 62. Y By reason ofthe gas entrapped in the recess of the plate 57, no vrdiiiicultyjis experienced in removing the receptacle yas the expansive force of theV gas and the. vapor pressure 0f the liquid in the receptacle both exert an expansive force between the receptacle 5 and the `packing 52 thereby permitting the quick release of the receptacle.

Accordingly, we have provided apparat-us for cleaning Vout the air vent in a filling `machine without the possibility of small particles of liquid being discharged from the escape'vent at undesirable points. Another important feature of ourinvention is the provision of a filling head that is provided with a recess for the entrapment of and compression of a body rof gas above the receptacle being filled in order to assist in the release of the receptacle in a later operation.

. Vhile we have shown and described our invention as embodied in a machine that is particularly adapted for filling cans with soup, saucing baked beans and the like, it is obvious that the invention is capable of utilization for filling other types yof receptacles with other kinds of matter.

It is to be understood that various changes in the size, shape and disposition of the component parts of our invention may be made without departing from the lscope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a filling machine, a tank, a filling tube connected therewith, a fluid vent for the filling tube, and means for supplying iuid to the vent from a source external to the tank and comprising a member having a brokenV portion therein across which the fluid under pressure passes and which prevents the movement of particles of matter to the fluid source.

2. In a iilling machine, a vent including a coupling unit having a pair of spaced alined conduits for directing a stream of fluid across an intermediate space, a considerable portroc tion of which is permanently open to the air.

ing the open space between the ends Lof the conduits.

4.V In a lling machine, a tank, a filling tube connected therewith, a fluid vent for the filling tube, means for supplying fluid to the 4 ima-879 vent having a broken portion, and means for periodically projecting a stream of fluid across the open portion for cleaning the vent, said broken portion permitting the escape of Huid fronithe vent during the filling oper-ation Without traversing the projecting means. In testimony whereof We have `hereunto set our hands. 1

, DAVID M. I-IAUGrER.V

JESSE E. WEAVER. WILLIAM G; WOLBERT. JOSEPH E. DUNN. 

